The Color of Trees
by iamnumbernine
Summary: How one girl gave us the the colors of trees


**The Color of Trees**

**Part One: The Gods' Decision**

There once was a poor girl who lived in a relatively small town a long long time ago. Her family was mean to her but she was a kind and good person and always had faith that her life would get better. She was not happy with the life she led at the time. So she prayed every night to the gods for help to escape from the hardships and have a happy and more enjoyable life. And since she was such a good person, the gods actually listened.

Her name, Decidua, was brought up at the next council meeting of the gods. It's not like there hadn't been trouble before. Of course there was, with all of that power in one room. And then there were the animals of each god who seemed to always get into fights every meeting. Dionysus's panther, Hera's cow, Poseidon's horse, Ares's many dogs, and Artemis's deer were all staring warily at each other as their masters debated and yelled. Aphrodite's dove, Zeus's eagle, Hera's peacock, Athena's owl, and Ares's vulture circled overhead.

All Tartarus broke loose at the mention of her name. Poseidon and Ares started arguing with each other as did Aphrodite and Hera. Then everyone else started yelling with their own opinions on the fact that Decidua was praying to all of them. Equally.

Athena, with her owl perched on her shoulder, was, as always, the voice of wisdom to the rest of the council. "Does it not show the goodness and knowledge of this child to pray to all of us for help?"

"Well, maybe." Aphrodite commented as she fiddled with her magic belt given to her by Hephaestus and her dove cooing around her. "But she should have only prayed to me."

"Now, now. I don't mean to be a hot-head." Here, Apollo winked at everyone (causing Hermes, Artemis, and Hephaestus to groan at the bad joke) and continued "but how would you help her?"

Aphrodite looked offended. "Well, obviously I could have helped her most, Apollo, everyone knows that."

"Well, hold on. I think I would be best suited for this," Artemis said.

"Hah! Artemis, don't make me laugh. How could you help her?" Aphrodite asked the moon goddess.

"I could take her away. She would become one of my huntresses and she could take care of my bow and possibly the stag. She loves the outdoors and is a hard worker."

"Oh, like anyone would want to live as a huntress! With no men at all and only you for company! How dreadful!"

As Aphrodite and Artemis started to argue, the rest of the gods looked slightly bored. Zeus, in his role as king of the gods, interrupted them with a crash of lightening and the banging of a gavel. "Well, we obviously have a dilemma here, don't we? What to do, what to do."

Then a new voice could be heard. "I know it's not really my place, seeing as I'm a minor god and all, but since Diana and Venus seem to have the most interest in this case, why not let them handle it?"

"Janus, it is really frustrating when you speak in Roman terms and we are speaking in Greek terms. It requires more thought on my part and that isn't good," Dionysus said as he took another gulp of the wine in his hand.

"Bacchus, the immediate thought in my head is your Roman name, since, I am, obviously only Roman, you drunkard," spoke Janus's other head, obviously the meaner one.

"Let's get back to the matter at hand, shall we?" said Athena, trying to move things along, "I do rather like Janus's idea."

"Thank you Minerva!" shouted the first head.

"Duh, that's because it's the best option," said the second one at the same time as the first.

"I hate talking to Janus," whispered Hermes to his brother Apollo, "He's so confusing! All of the time!"

"Agreed," Apollo whispered back.

"Okay, so all those in favor of making Decidua either Aphrodite's or Artemis's concern, say aye." said Zeus with a look at the sundial. He really needed to get out of here and onto Earth. There was a beautiful mortal waiting for him.

"Aye," said Athena. _"This is obviously the best course of action."_

"Aye," said Hermes. _"Get me out of this meeting and away from Janus!"_

"Aye," said Dionysus. _"What does it really matter, anyway?"_

"Aye," said Ares. _"Yes! There will have to be a fight to see who will help the stupid kid."_

"Aye," said Apollo. _"The faster we pick something, the faster I can get out of here."_

"Aye," said Poseidon. _"Finally! How long have we been here? I need salt water!"_

"Aye," said Hephaestus. _"Maybe this will make Aphrodite a little happier."_

"Aye," said Hestia. _"Am I even allowed to vote I'm not part of the Twelve?"_

"Aye," said Hades. _"Who honestly cares?"_

"Aye," said Persephone. _"Why did I even come to this?"_

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. I don't get a say in this at all?" asked Hera.

"Well, yeah, if you're waiting to speak up until now Juno!" yelled Janus's second head and ignoring the glare Juno shot him.

"I would actually kind of want to help also," stated Demeter, shifting the bundle of wheat in her arms.

"Gods, Ceres! What could you do to help, Miss Grains!" Janus's second head once again ignored the glare from a goddess as the first head facepalmed.

"Janus needs to get the Tartarus out of these meetings," Hephaestus told Hermes and Apollo, joining their discussion about how much Janus bugged them. And then Poseidon overheard and chimed in with his thoughts on the matter too.

Zeus was starting to lose his temper. He was going to be so late for that "meeting" with the mortal. "Hera! Demeter! Why couldn't you have brought this up before?"

"Nice one Jupiter! Exactly! Juno? Ceres? Got an answer to that?" asked Janus's second head while the first tried to get him to shut up.

"Well, I just think that we didn't get an opportunity to speak. I am the queen of the gods. Obviously, I can help this poor child the most."

"No! She can come to the fields and work! It will be good for her!" yelled Demeter.

"How is that any different from what Artemis would do?" Poseidon asked Demeter, who could come up with no answer.

"Hahaha, very good Neptune!" shouted Janus's second head.

Zeus rubbed his forehead. He was getting a huge headache, second only to the one he had when Athena burst out of his head.

"Now, now, now. Let's not make this like the Trojan War all over again!" stated Hermes, with a gleam in his eye. "We didn't need that the first time; we certainly don't need another one!"

"Yes! Too many deaths! The Underworld is getting very crowded," said Hades.

"Very good point Mercury! Oh, and you too Pluto," said Janus's first head.

"Noo, that war was great!" shouted Ares, which surprised no one. He was after all, the god of war.

"Mars, that war was terrible!" shouted the first head.

"For the second time, can we please get back on track with helping this poor mortal!" shouted Athena, trying to get the attention of the rest of the gods.

"Athena is absolutely right, as always," Zeus said hurriedly, checking the sundial once more.

"Could we move this thing a bit faster please?" asked Hephaestus, polishing the tools on his belt. "I've got things to do."

"Yes, yes, we all do Vulcan. Calm down," said Janus's second head.

"Personally, I think that Artemis or Aphrodite can offer the most help to Decidua," Athena stated her opinion.

"I agree," said Hestia quietly. "She seems to talk to the fire a lot and since she doesn't have a true home, I have received many prayers from her. I think sending Aphrodite or Artemis would be the best thing to do here."

"Vesta, who gave you permission to speak?" yelled Janus's second head at the goddess while the first one tried to strangle him.

"Okay, who is in favor of sending either Aphrodite or Artemis?" asked Zeus.

"Aye," shouted all the gods as one, except for Hera, Demeter, and Janus's second head.

"You all just ruined it. Especially you, Proserpina," Janus randomly picked a goddess to yell at and she looked confused as she ate a pomegranate.

"Janus, SHUT UP!" yelled all of the gods.

"Alright, it is done. Decide amongst yourselves which one it will be to help her. Everyone besides Artemis and Aphrodite may go," said Zeus.

"Thank you!" yelled Apollo. Everyone got out of there in record time.

"So how will we figure this out?" Artemis asked the goddess of love and beauty.

"I don't know. I really want to help this girl Artemis! She'd look so cute with a makeover and a boyfriend!"

"Oh, no. No way! You are not letting boys destroy her. She should come help me out."

"I'll get you another maiden to be your huntress. Pretty pretty please, Artemis? The next time we're fighting over a mortal, you can have him or her, I swear," Aphrodite told the other goddess.

"Okay. But I get the next one!"

"Deal!" The two goddesses shook on it and Artemis left as Aphrodite started thinking. "Eros! Eros, my son, come here!"

A little chubby winged person came into sight before Aphrodite. "Yes, Mother?" he asked her.

"We are going to help a mortal. She is desperately sad in her home. I think some love will cheer her right up!"

"Oh, absolutely Mother! Brilliant idea!"

Anyone who would have overheard this conversation would know that obviously this wasn't going to work and Aphrodite should stop before she made it any worse. Unfortunately for Decidua, no one did overhear.

**Part Two: The Effects of the Decision**

Decidua was sweeping out the house that she lived in with her family on a bright summer's day. Her family was having fun at someone else's villa but Decidua had to stay home to watch the house. She was sweeping on the walkway near the house when someone walking by asked her for directions on how to get to the closest temple of Minerva. "I just need some advice lately, and I figured going to her temple would help me, but I'm not sure where I am going."

Decidua smiled at the man and helped him figure out the way. Since he had been traveling, she offered him some food and drink. Aphrodite, as busy as she was with other things, happened to look down onto Decidua's village and saw this interaction. "Eros!" she yelled, calling for her son. "Eros!"

"Yes, Mother?" he asked her.

"There is the mortal who we are helping. I think this man with her would be just perfect for her."

"Right away Mother!"

So Eros got out his bow and golden tipped arrows, and shot both Decidua and Muertos with an arrow. And They fell in love. As time went on, Decidua moved out of the awful house and her life got better. Muertos had money so Decidua looked and felt better too, with fancy dresses and jewels. Unfortunately, this happiness wouldn't last. What no one had known when Eros shot Decidua and Muertos, was that one of the arrows did not have a pure gold tip. Hephaestus was making this set of arrows the day of the meeting and was running late, so he was working quickly and some of the lead got into the pure gold. And the lead tipped arrows cause hatred, not love. So Muertos grew to hate Decidua even though she was still deeply in love with him and he eventually left her. This gave her a pain like none other in her life, even when she had lived with her cruel family. Instead of praying this time, she cried out to the heavens, "Let it all end! Let this pain go away!" and she sobbed.

Artemis heard Decidua's cries and realized that she should have never let Aphrodite "help" the girl. It would have been better to just let Decidua become one of Artemis's huntresses. Well, it was too late for that now. Decidua was older and did not work as hard anymore. However, Artemis did feel sorry for the woman and wanted to help her. So she answered Decidua's pleas. No, she didn't kill her. She turned her into a tree, forever in the nature she had once loved to be in. In the spring, the tree was new and hopeful. It sometimes had to go through cold winters, but it made it through. In the summer, it continued to grow, bloom, and mature. By fall, its leaves changed colors from green to red, orange, yellow, and brown, much like Decidua's new dresses instead of just one color. Then came the winter. The hardest part of Decidua's life; where Muertos left her. The tree dies in the cold temperatures, just like Decidua's soul. And then the cycle repeats, on and on, forever.

A?N: Hey! So this is a myth I had to come up with as my Latin homework and I decided to post it on here. Thanks for reading and please review! :)

iamnumbernine


End file.
